Clearly I need a new strategy. Hit the last stage of Advance Wars: Days of Ruins, and have to admit that I liked the way they took the new post-apocalyptic storyline. Also glad they used the new set of characters as an excuse to create some relationship interplay, though honestly I'd have been more amused if everyone fell for Will, seriously.
So, I'm not quite sure how to defeat the nest. 5 straight-line 8 damage laser cannons, 3 of which bisect the map making it impossible to get across with capture units (debris/ruin ground so the bikes can't make it either). Alternating side 5 damage missile effects. 2 auto-creation points (which are guarded by the laser cannons on the inside just to force me to use heavy firepower units to camp them). And to top it off Caulder's got a 5 star attack and defense CO effect on a 3 radius and it regenerates? Totally unfair, and aside from the half-life strike every round I think I could eventually outgun him. Problem is his air units just shred mine, and with so little by way of transversable terrain I find myself playing reactionary all too often. I think I'll just use a decoy array of troops and stonewall in with indirect fire, not sure how to keep my Eastern flank from getting overwhelmed, but that's merely another issue.
No resolutions for New Years, not that I ever do, but despite not making them. I think there's a few items on the itinerary. Aside from replacing Asgard (the Soundcard is partially dead, which is the only remaining piece of the original), I think I'll use the tax refund (or whatever they're calling it, economic incentive?) towards a PS3, and then we can tack on a few goals like moderate exercise and professional skill development. Maybe there should be something about a social life, but there's no really a young professional adult scene here that I know of, nor that I really care about anyways.
Saw Cloverfield with Jason, suffice to say that I'm not a major fan of the shaky camera, but can stomach it anyways. Pretty much went to see what the monster was, and can't say that I'm completely satisfied in that regards. The whole movie is a veiled survival horror, but after the opening you know the where and what of the end, which gives it all the appeal of a rail-shooter with all too obvious railings. Too much of what's going on is obscured by the cameras off-set focus and mobility that the suspense is killed off by the mystery. I'd watch it again just to get a better look at a few elements with the knowledge of where to look when, but probably not in theaters.
Also, if you're gonna add something after the credits, make it more audible, even if you're trying for something muffled.
To play quick catchup from a resurrection of last time's anime comments:
Darker than Black- Ended well enough, higher body count that anticipated but I liked the way everything played out. I'd appreciate another season of Hei and Ying against the Syndicate, and another one or two Initial D styled OPs while we're at it.
Not sure really what they'd do to recast the second season, as Hei doesn't seem the type to recruit anyone and all his former partners are dead though.
Baccano!- As much as I originally said I didn't want to spend all 13 episodes on that one train (and we did, despite the other stories), I think that Baccano! was fantastic. Despite the full-blown chaos (and absolutely crappy broadcast quality) the show came together masterfully, and still managed to through a couple armfuls of surprises my way.
The comic relief characters, while plot relevant, get a bit too much airtime for being such airheads. In a weaker show, they could've been fatal. Consequently, the finale feels a tad bit weak, for focusing on them as it did instead of the unveiling of the others.
Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei - It's a fun show, but I'm convinced there's not actually a plot. It feels 4koma, but even those have direction. Very much a product of very strong characters with non-existent plot. Works if you have expectations along those lines, otherwise you're just left wondering what the point of all it was. Additionally, everything extra on the screen just moves so quick I'd be amazed if even the intended audience could catch it all in one go.
Haven't watched an episode of the second season yet, but the ED is gorgeous, the opening is alright but I preferred the first season's stuff.
Idolm@ster Xenoglossia - What's that Sunrise, sacrifices made partially meaningless by the fact that the sacrificed survive? You're good at that sort of thing. Either way I liked the show on the whole and the cast without even having the Idol background or fan-ship for it. Playing itself on the safe side of things with the violence except at seemingly arbitrary spikes of the bloodshed gave it echoes of Eureka Seven's take on violence (though E7 basically embraced it after a short lull from the original inclusion).
Fulfilled the necessary role as Hime/Otome substitute, with all the pitfalls that entails.
Speaking of which, Otome Zwei ended reasonably happily for me, giving Nina powers, keeping the stupid cat-kid from doing anything. A bit off the cuff OVA set, but it had enough delights for the Otome/Hime fan that it worked. I'm hoping for some fun with S.if, though I can't say that Arika's mother is really my preferred character (maybe she was really awesome during the S.if time though).
Gurren Lagann - I just gotta get the Anonymous subs, like, tomorrow, Order is painfully slow and I want to finish this.
Tales of Symphonia - Seriously, a 4 set OVA that carried barely halfway through the story? Who thought this idea up? Or at least announce the next 4, please.
And for the "new" stuff
Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuchou Tou Dai Ni Maku is still dead in the water as far as subs go, which is a shame, since I wanted to see if they could redeem the awesomeness of the first season. Licensing and general ill taste of the first season seems to have done it in though. Still on eps 1 and 3 have been covered still, perhaps it's time to go trawling for the raws, but I didn't even see those occurring weekly.
Aquarion ~ Wings of Betrayal/Glory~ was a great reminder of just about everything I enjoyed out of Aquarion, without the annoyance of Sirius and Silvia's incestuous fascinations
(Firefox suggested I use that instead of incestual, it probably knows better than I do) . Excellent action and interplay, and leading people down the wrong course. Not sure how I fell about a love balanced by three, nor about how they tried to tie it in as a prequel, but I do know I have a desire to rewatch the first episode again (badass soundtrack as Apollo falls into Mars and goes about combining and kicking Shadow Angel ass).
Tsubusa Chronicles - Tokyo Revelations was everything that I had hoped to get out of the second season by building the on first and then some. I've probably watched the mini-fight scene (Crossbows versus Syaoran until Kurogane's strike) a dozen times and enjoyed it every time. Glad to have things moving again for all the characters (back at the end of Season 1 with the RPG-world world for the prior example of everyone doing something) and again with Fye and Kurogane being awesome, though clone-Syaoran being amazing too (and yes, I was among those who though the one being held by Reed Fei-Wong was the evil clone, and not the original).
Macross Frontier cannot be praised enough. The CG here was mind-blowingly amazing and that's about all I can really say since everything else will be repeating that phrase in some form or another. Seriously, it made everything else look like child's play.
Minami-ke - I think both seasons have done pretty well with this one honestly. I don't have any major objections going into the second from the first (though the soundtrack seems perhaps the slightest bit weaker - until I hear the panic music). It's not quite the otaku humor that drove Lucky Star, and that probably makes it a bit more enjoyable for me in all respects. The Bible Black eyes are a little jarring (especially in the context of the first OP of the second season), but overall it's still a solid character designer. Much humor to be had, regularly a riot.
Rental Magica I nearly dropped, but kept around and have enjoyed it despite the lack of anything to really stand out to me. I think I'm probably doing it just for the ladies at this point, and even then I cannot stand Mikan, she needs to be replaced with Lapis for sure. I've enjoyed the progression of the plot, and the formation of some grand scheme underlying everything. Really, I'm rooting for Goetia though. Her Evangeline appeal beats out Honami any day of the week.
Shugo Chara - Why have I enjoyed this as much as I have? I dunno. It's relatively simple, absolutely monster of the week and the 3 Character Transformations are all just palette swaps on the single original. On top of that, the cast is absolutely juvenile, literally, the setting could've been handled much more to my liking with an older cast (Hell, they could not change the animation and just change the numbers of their grades and I'll feel better about it).
Dragonaut ~The Resonance~ - I think this is playing stand in for my shounen fix this season. It doesn't know when to kill off characters, completely sidetracks its own plot, and does a very poor job of explaining the mysteries it fosters. I cannot stand Kazuki, I have issues with practically everyone who shows up, aside from the established cast being a Dragon, randomly, and I've had just about enough with Jin and Gio being captured (yet I bet we'll get one more in there, randomly, at some point before the end).
Persona ~Trinity Soul~ has a lot of potential to be grand, it just needs to stop dancing around with the setup of the sides of the conflict and get down to the action. The sideline tragic-past crap can go away as well, I think that the Personas and the competing organizations are enough to fill the series anyways.
Wasn't a good season for heroes. Dropped both Heroic Age and Hero Tales for inability to get into them, alongside unsteady subs at the onset.
Not deep enough into Shigofumi or Spice and Wolf to comment on those yet.
You know, I have no idea what the outcome of Groundhog's Day was.
